Momentus Space

Momentus intends to use a multi-pronged approach to become a provider of three critical functions in the new space economy: Space Transportation, Satellite as a Service, and In-Orbit Servicing.

Created: 2018-11-22

Updated: 2024-07-08

Company - Momentus Space

Founded
Country
2017
USA
Funding
$153.8M+
Website
https://momentus.space/
Social
Momentus Space

Product/Service - Vigoride

Classification
In-Space Transportation
Category
Space Tug
In-Space Logistics
Fields
In-Space Transportation
Transport Service (In-Space)
Transport Service (LEO-GEO)
Status
Active
First launch
2022

“Momentus informed Stable Road that it does not expect to fly any missions in 2021 and that this determination was based on information from SpaceX that it was suspending its Momentus-related efforts while Momentus works to secure approvals from the U.S. government,” Stable Road wrote.

Redwire, a new leader in mission critical space solutions and high reliability components for the next generation space economy, has been selected by Momentus, a commercial space company offering in-space infrastructure services, to develop robotics systems for their next generation Vigoride in-space transportation vehicle. The multi-phase contract will include a system architecture study and delivery of a flight-qualified robotics system that will operate on a flight demonstration in 2022. The agreement builds on the Memorandum of Understanding between Redwire and Momentus that was announced in September 2020.

First mission in 2022
The first orbital transfer vehicle launched by Momentus in 2022 continues to experience problems and the company says its confidence that the spacecraft can complete its mission has “substantially declined. The company said one issue with the spacecraft was a problem with solar arrays that failed to deploy as expected after launch. This caused both power and communications issues, the company said, although other body-mounted solar arrays did work correctly. The failure of the solar arrays to deploy has reduced power and limited communication. The company did have initial contact with Vigoride-3 and was able to confirm the two satellite deployments, but even with Federal Communications Commission approval of the use of unplanned frequencies it has not been able to maintain two-way communications.

Publications and news:

Momentus is now offering a version of its Vigoride tug as a satellite bus for commercial and government customers (SpaceNews 2023-08-07)

Status Comment / Notes

Completed an initial test sequence of the Microwave Electrothermal Thruster (MET) on its Vigoride-5 vehicle launched in January on SpaceX’s Transporter-6 rideshare mission. The MET uses microwaves to turn water into plasma to generate thrust (SpaceNews, 2023-03-31).

Momentus Disclose Financial Turmoil Amid Mission Cancellation, 2024-02-05. Stand down their Vigoride 7 servicer that was supposed to launch onboard SpaceX’s Transporter 10 on 1st March.

Sources


Most sources should be linked in the texts and headings as revealed by mouse-over, but here are they listed for visibility.

News, Research, Projects and Patents

Title Type Date Summary
Momentus’ Rood discusses technology trends Article 2023-06-22
Momentus looks ahead under new chief executive Article 2021-08-04
Momentus August 2021 Investor Deck Presentation 2021-08-01
Space SPAC shares drop as struggling merger target Momentus does not expect to fly this year News 2021-05-24
MADE IN SPACE EUROPE AND MOMENTUS TO DEMONSTRATE ROBOTIC ORBITAL TRANSPORTATION SERVICES News 2020-09-01 >

To develop a cooperative robotic spaceflight mission planned for 2022. The agreement covers mission development and validation efforts of the combined capabilities of Momentus’ Vigoride transfer vehicle and MIS EU robotic arms. A successful demonstration mission would provide flight heritage for key space commercialisation technologies.

The New ‘Gold Rush in Space’ News 2020-08-07

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